Friday tips for iPhone users -- Angry Birds and Bookworm, the last installment for now

It appears I have answered all of the questions people have asked me over the last few months, so here are a very last few tips I can offer until more questions are asked of me.

Even the most constant players of SoDunked! need to use other entertainment apps now and then. These are two I enjoy and so do thousands of others. If you don't believe me, try them yourself. (Oh, and if you are a gamer or under age 25, you probably don't need to read on, just go dunk me and your grandma with Sodunked!)

Angry Birds (yes, Lyle, someone asked me about this)

I can't write a primer on it, but I can tell you three good tips.

1.       The birds can do different things. Yellow birds are "saw" birds and if you touch them after launch at just the right moment, they will speed up and hit the target with more force to "saw" through it. Black birds are explosive and you can touch them to control when they explode if you choose. White birds lay explosive eggs, but you have to touch the bird in flight over the desired target. I don't have that down, alas. The blue birds multiply when you touch them after launch, so if you get the timing right, those teeny birds are actually very useful. The red birds...I don't remember what they do. Really, I should have my kids write this as they taught me everything I know. (I'll find out and update this soon). 

2.       Now that you know what each bird can do, be more strategic about which bird you use first or last and where to aim given the bird options you are given with each turn. 

3.       Set your timer for the amount of time you think you need to play Angry Birds and choose a really jarring alarm sound so that it stuns you out of the addicted stupor you will find yourself in (no matter what you tell yourself about self-control and being an adult). Now, go dunk one of the birds (or a pig) with SoDunked!

Bookworm - not about books or worms at all

This too can be addictive. If you do not know this game, it is sort of a cross between Tetrus and Scrabble. It can be addictive for the wordies among us, so heed the third tip from the Angry Birds bit above and use your timer if you don't want to be playing for hours instead of sleeping. I have four tips for this game.

1.       Get rid of the flaming tiles asap even if it means not making that amazing word that isn't using the flaming tiles. It'll pay off in the end. 

2.       Make words with the J, Z, and Q when you have the chance or they'll trap you at the end when they turn to flame and are surrounded by only consonants. 

3.       Keep an eye out for that bonus word (care of my mom-in-law and cousin)

4.       Make it more challenging by restricting yourself to minimum 4- or 5-letter words only. It can get boring after a while if you don't do that although it remains addictive. 

If you are a competitive wordie, you may need Words with Friends or Scrabble. For those, I cannot help. Competitive Scrabble allows words that you cannot play at home on a real board so I just don't like it. Also, Lyle is so good at it that I can't compete. I think I'll dunk him.

And, don't forget to dunk someone today and spread the word about Sodunked!